Public Safety (Subcommittee of the City Council)

PUBLIC SAFETY COMMITTEE MINUTES Wednesday August 8th, 2018 City Hall Room 335 100 Broadway, Norwich 7:00 PM Committee Members Present: Alderman William Nash, Alderman Joseph A. DeLucia, and Alderwoman Joanne Philbrick Committee Members Absent: None Administration and Staff Present: Chief Patrick Daley, Lieutenant John Perry, Sergeant Nicholas Rankin, Sergeant Peter Camp, Matt Seidel, Steve Callender, Bob Jackson, Christopher Hawrylik, Steve Schmidt, Nathaniel Tondreau, John Tangney, Steve DeLoreto, Ryan O’Connell, Rodman Cappiello, and Thomas Cazzaro, Norwich Police Department; John Salomone, City Manager, City of Norwich; Christopher LaRose, Assistant General Manager, Norwich Public Utilities; and Joey Hundley, Director of Operations, American Ambulance. Volunteer/Central Fire Departments and Others: Taftville Chief Timothy Jencks, Assistant Chief William Hadam, Deputy Chief Tom Jencks and Daniel Auger; Norwich Director of Training and Safety Jake Manke and Kyle Seitz; East Great Plain Alderwoman Stacy Gould; Occum Chief Bob LaChapelle; Laurel Hill Captain Peter Clark, Megan McKeever, and Michael Carlos; and Yantic Chief Frank Blanchard, Raymond Henry and Frank Cilley; Department of Emergency Services and Public Protection and Connecticut Telecommunications System: Bob Boudreau; and Wireless Design: Richard LaSaracina. Citizens Present: Brian Kobylarz of 16 Hobart Avenue and Jeffrey Blayman of Ideal Skateshop, 175 Central Avenue. I. Call to Order and Quorum: Alderman Nash called the meeting to order at 7:07 PM. There was a quorum present. II. Approval of Minutes: Minutes of Wednesday June 13th, 2018 Alderman Nash motioned, seconded by Alderwoman Philbrick, to approve the Wednesday July 11th, 2018 meeting minutes. The motion passed unanimously. III. Correspondence: None. IV. Presentation by Chief Daley: Norwich Police Department Chief Patrick Daley presented a PowerPoint presentation regarding the current bid for replacement police department radios. The presentation first touched on the main issue being that the radio system is outdated so they often cannot hear dispatch and vice versa. Chief Daley stated the ideal goal would be for the department to join the state’s truncated system which would be a fraction of the cost in comparison to Norwich building its own system. Chief Daley noted that the system the department is operating on today was developed in the 1940s and while the equipment has been replaced over the years the underlying system has never been updated. The Chief said Norwich is one of the few towns still operating on a low-band system and that the town is still using the Orchard Street antenna site which is attached to wooden utility poles. Chief Daley explained that some of the problems with the existing system relate to the expansion of the town from flat plains to rolling hills and valleys which create dead spots in the low-band system. The department is also unable to communicate with any of its mutual aid partners as they have all upgraded. Chief Daley said ultimately the town has two choices being we build our own replacement system at approximately 9 million dollars or join the state’s trunked system for approximately 2.7 million. The Chief stated that their bid proposes creating a second antenna site ate Wheelabrator in Lisbon, which is required to adapt to the state’s system, as well as updating the Orchard Street site with a modern radio toward and replace the undersized shelter with a modern shelter capable of protecting all current users along with new generators. Chief Daley reported that if we were to join the state system the radio update could be live within one year of the bond approval this November. Chief Daley introduced Ron Cady of Motorola via voice conference and screen sharing. Ron Cady discussed the technical side of the project and presented various maps showing potential coverage using different proposed system solutions. Alderwoman Gould asked Chief Daley if a third antenna site would be required at any point to get coverage with no dead spots and Chief Daly responded it is something that could be discussed down the road as the dead spots shown on the maps presented by Ron Cady were primarily farm areas with no homes. Jeffrey Blayman of Ideal Skateshop in Norwich, CT added that he has had community officers stop into his small wooden shop which has little insulation and they struggled to make calls out using their radios. Brian Kobylarz of 16 Hobart Avenue asked if there are plans to tie the new proposed system into the existing fiber optic system that exists between the Norwich Police Department and Norwich School Systems. Richard LaSaracina of Wireless Design responded that isn’t part of their proposal but it is an added benefit that could be discussed down the road. Brian Kobylarz also asked if the frequencies being looked at for the proposed communicate be guaranteed by Motorola for the length of the bond and Mr. LaSaracina responded that they proposed to utilize the same frequencies already being used by the City. Alderwoman Gould asked what the projected annual cost is to get on the new system. Mr. LaSaracina responded that the first year is free with maintenance fees of approximately $80,000 with an increase of $1,000 annually for the first five years with upgrades built into the maintenance system. Alderwoman Gould questioned if the cost also includes IT assistance, consulting, etc. and Chief Daly responded we would get access to both Connecticut Telecommunications System (CTS) and Motorola assistance. Alderwoman Gould also asked what the cost will be to put the antenna site at Wheelabrator in Lisbon. Chief Daley stated there will be no cost but possibly the need to install a meter down the road. There was discussion on what potential of epic failure the town faces if we join the new system in comparison to staying on the old system. Robert Boudreau of CTS stated that since 1997 they have not had any failures and they have multiple backups in case of that occurrence along with emergency response vehicles that can attend to a site during a failure. Chief Daley added if that happens on the old  system the City’s only response is Norwich Public Utilities so the City would be in trouble in the event of a large power failure. V. Citizen Comment: a) Brian Kobylarz of 16 Hobart Avenue wished to give an update to his statements from last meeting regarding sex offenders; the individual who broke into his neighbor’s home did attend court the previous week and is now being held in Bridgeport until the 7th and was served a 100 yard restraining order so that the individual will not be able to remain in the apartment that he was residing in. Mr. Kobylarz said in response to some of Alderwoman Philbrick’s questions last meeting he found in 2004 Norwich had 52 sex offenders where in 2012 there was 102 reported and today we are at 153 in the city. b) Steve Schmidt of 30 Campbell Drive in Canterbury stated he is a member of Norwich Police Department and that while he knows for voters a lot of things come down to financing but the safety of the community and officers in relation to the radio systems is intangible. He added that by supporting the bond voters are not just investing in equipment but investing in something needed for the Department to do their jobs properly. c) Lieutenant John Perry of the Norwich Police Department stated he wanted to point out that a lot of police officers in attendance brought family members to show this upgrade affects us all, not just officers. VI. Alderwoman Philbrick made a motion, seconded by Alderman DeLucia to suspend minutes and to move Section VII Item B on the agenda, any other business appropriate to come before the Committee, before Old Business. Alderman DeLucia made a motion, seconded by Alderwoman Philbrick, to forward favorable recommendation to Council to approval $2.7 million radio bond. The motion passed unanimously. VII. Old Business: a) Apparatus/ Equipment Financing: – Alderman Nash made a motion to pass this section of the agenda as these items can be discussed at the Chiefs Meeting on August 15th at 10:30AM. Alderman DeLucia entertained the motion and it passed unanimously. VI. New Business: a) Norwich Public Utilities Update – Assistant General Manager Chris LaRose stated all the high pressure zone tanks have been completed and all the low pressure zones included downtown have been completed with the small mains will be scheduled to be complete by October. He added that Occum is still offline due to delays but hoping to have operational by next meeting. b) Emergency Management: Director of Training and Safety Jake Lankey reported July was very busy for Emergency Management; they have  community development day scheduled for late September to show best utilization of non-emergency response center. Mr. Lankey added they are preparing for the upcoming hurricane season as there are some high- impact storms scheduled to hit which the area has not seen in the past few years. Mr. Lankey reported that Emergency Management received a grant from DEMHS for approximately $45,000 and that their current needs are the CERT vehicle replacement and ideally replacing their current pickup truck with a 1-Ton Pickup that has a stake body. c) American Ambulance: None. d) Norwich Police Department: Chief Daley reported regarding sex offenders the Department’s numbers differ, and are typically lower, than the state compliance numbers as their reports relate to offenders they are ready to arrest where the state conducts broader reports however he stated there is still an issue with the increases. Sergeant Peter Camp added that our true number of offenders is current at 119 and attributed the increases to better services offered in the City as well as increased reporting of attacks., e) Fire House Status Updates: Taftville: Chief Timothy Jencks reported deployed the firehouse was twice for Sailfest and that he will be meeting with US Navy tomorrow. He reported their addition is moving along slowly with three walls up currently. Chief Jencks said the completion deadline is one month away. East Great Plain: Alderwoman Gould reported on behalf of the firehouse that they had their rededication this past Sunday and their 75th Anniversary Carnival is coming up the following weekend with parade on Saturday. Occum: Chief Bob LaChapelle reported that Occum celebrated its 75th anniversary. Yantic: Chief Frank Blanchard reported they had 62 calls the past month and membership is currently at 58 with 2 members having completed Firefighter 1 training. Chief Blanchard stated apparatus Engine 32 is going to city garage tomorrow to get piping worked on, Engine 31 is currently in service and Squad 6 will also be going to city garage as they have been experiencing power losses. Chief said the firehouse is need of an extension to get the Fire Marshall work completed and they are looking at new equipment including air packs that they will be submitting to purchasing. The firehouse’s other needs include a replacement air conditioning unit and to begin design work on a replacement system for the current outdated underground fuel tank. Laurel Hill: Captain Peter Clark reported that they have a lot of new members and that Laurel Hill was in attendance at the Emergency Management trainings. Captain Clark added they have two projects ongoing at the firehouse including the ongoing exhaust hood renovation  which is being held up by the heat as it is too hot for the mason to do work and they have thermal cameras on order. Norwich: Director of Training and Safety Jake Manke reported on behalf of Chief Scandariato that Norwich had 172 incidents in the past month with an average response time of 3.2 minutes. The firehouse put Marine 1 on limited service with Marine 2 on extended service to help cover the gap. Mr. Manke reported their current needs include Squad A Replacement, Fire Marshall Vehicle Replacement, and new personal equipment that will help diminish the amount of carcinogens the firefighters are exposed too. Mr. Manke wanted to add that Chief Scandariato’s retirement service will be held on August 31st. VIII. Other: City Manager John Salomone reported that the IMC Bridge is in its final process but he can’t give an exact date as Leon is the key person to speak to but he will get an updated report for the next meeting. Chief Patrick Daly added that Leon had told him he was currently playing phone tag with his vendor and is waiting on a call back. IX. Future Agenda Items: a.) IMC Bridge Update X. Adjournment: Upon a motion by Alderman Nash, seconded by Alderman DeLucia, the meeting was unanimously adjourned at 8:41 pm Respectfully Submitted, Katherine Rose